Cancer and disability in children

Cancer and its treatment affect a child’s body functions and structures, physical function and quality of life to varying degrees. Disability refers to a situation in which partial or complete losses are observed in the functions of mental, physical, behavioral, and sensory organs due to injuries. Of the cancer patients who suffer severe symptoms, while some carry out their roles/normal lives again, others experience temporary or permanent disability. It has been determined that cancer patients whose treatment is completed develop a permanent disability, and that this ratio was higher than the general permanent disability rate in society. It is reported that children diagnosed with cancer at a young age are at greater risk of disability. Identification and classification of disability is very complicated. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), one of the best-known methods, can be used for the identification of disability in children with cancer.